That’s cap. YOU’RE the cheater. I learned it from watching you.
“Oh, so we doing this?” Prime laughed. “You got jokes now?”
Yusef grinned and shrugged innocently. But his eyes were mischievous. That boy was about to destroy us and he knew it.
Prime dealt the cards, and for the next hour, we played round after round. Yusef was ruthless—stacking Draw Fours, reversing when Prime was about to win, hitting me with skips when I had one card left. Every time he won, he’d do a little silent celebration, shoulders bouncing, face smug as hell.
By the second game, I caught Prime sliding Yusef an extra card under the table.
“Y’all cheating TOGETHER now?!” I threw my cards down. “Against the pregnant lady?!”
Yusef’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. Prime tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably.
“It’s called an alliance, Goddess.”
“It’s called TREASON.”
Yusef typed on his phone again:Sorry Auntie. Every man for himself. And I’m winning.
“Oh, you think you cute?” I snatched the cards and started shuffling. “New game. I’m dealing this time. And I’m watching BOTH of y’all.”
By the third game, I was laughing so hard my belly hurt. Prime kept losing anyway, even with Yusef’s help, and his face was getting tighter each round. Yusef noticed and started doing exaggerated victory dances just to annoy him.
This. This was everything I’d missed. This was everything I’d been afraid I’d never have again.
Eventually, Yusef’s eyes started getting heavy. He tried to fight it—kept rubbing his face and sitting up straighter—but the yawns won.
“Go to bed, baby,” I said softly. “We’ll play more tomorrow. And I’ll beat both y’all cheating asses.”
He looked like he wanted to argue, but another yawn cut him off. He stood, came over to hug me tight—holding on longer thanusual, like he was making sure I was real—then gave Prime a fist bump that turned into a half-hug.
I watched him disappear up the spiral staircase toward his room and felt my chest tighten with love.
“He missed you,” Prime said quietly.
“I missed him too. Missed both of y’all.” I turned to look at him. “Thank you. For taking care of him while I was gone.”
“That’s my son, too.” He said it simple. Matter-of-fact. No room for debate.
I blinked back tears. Damn pregnancy hormones.
Prime stood and held out his hand. “Come on, Goddess. Let me take care of you now.”
The master bathroom was unreal. A soaking tub big enough for four people sat in front of another wall of windows overlooking the city. Prime had dimmed the lights and lit candles everywhere—when had he even had time to do this?—and steam rose from the water. Rose petals floated on the surface.
“Boy, you did all this?”
“You deserve it. Get in. I’ll be right back.”
I stripped out of my clothes slowly, avoiding the mirror at first. But then I caught my reflection and couldn’t look away.
Seven months pregnant. My body was… different. Fuller. Rounder. Stretch marks like lightning bolts across my hips and lower belly. My nipples had darkened, spreading wider. A faint brown line ran down the center of my stomach—the linea nigra. My thighs touched in ways they never used to. My face was rounder, softer.
I barely recognized myself.
In jail, I hadn’t felt like a woman. Just a number. A body in orange scrubs shuffling from cell to cafeteria to cell. No one touched me with tenderness. No one looked at me with desire. I’d started to forget what it felt like to be soft. To be wanted.
I touched one of the stretch marks and felt… shame. Which was stupid. I was growing a whole human. But still.
